‘LGBT BEHAVIOR’ TO BE BARRED FROM INDONESIAN TV

Programs containing “LGBT behavior” will not be allowed on Indonesian television should the country’s parliament pass a drafted law, reported The Jakarta Post.

Lawmakers in Indonesia proposed a law that would ban all LGTB television characters from the screen

This would mean no re-runs of the popular Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Snagglepuss, or Transparent. The law would also bar discussions of gay issues on television and ban documentaries dealing with gay issues. Indonesian viewers will not be able to view public hangings of gay people in Iran or LGBTQ protests in Jerusalem.

The law is widely supported by all political parties and would require the establishment of a censor body that will review films, programs and advertisements before they are aired.

The arguments range from the need to “protect” young people to prevent the “corruption” of Indonesian culture.

It’s not illegal to be homosexual in most parts of the country, with the exception being Aceh province in the northwest tip of Sumatra Island, where strict sharia law is enforced and gay people are flogged.

LGBT groups in the country have spoken out against the proposed law and Amnesty International urged Indonesia to stop the caning and arrests of LGBT people in Aceh.